Geekscribe Book Club: Expendable by James Alan Gardner

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This is a new series where we examine sci-fi and fantasy books that you may or may not have heard about… books that scare us or make us laugh, or think or cry. These are books that we feel no self-respecting sci-fi/fantasy bookshelf should be without.

The October 2007 Geekscribe Book of the Month is: Expendable by James Alan Gardner

Expendable was James Alan Gardner’s first book. Don’t let that fact scare you away. It’s a good one.

Gardner’s universe is an interesting and complicated one, filled with intrigue, and interesting characters. His books are thoughtful and compelling, with people you root for and against.

Expendable takes place in the distant future when humans have ventured out into space, and we’re not alone. We’re also not the strongest, fastest or smartest. In fact we rank about as high in the evolutionary ladder as your common everyday kumquat.

Interstellar space is controlled by the “League of Peoples,” however they have only one rule: only sentient beings can cross into interstellar space. Non-sentient creatures are killed instantly: they just drop dead in interstellar space. Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong!

You’re sentient as long as you have never murdered someone, or through your inaction caused someone’s death. However, this also works for the species: if human society is involved in a war, the League might just decide to declare the entire species non-sentient. Same goes for a human society that is aware of people dying or being killed by aggressors and doesn’t go out of its way to intervene.

Expendable is told from the first person perspective of Festina Ramos. She is a member of the Explorer Corps, or E.C. Whenever a new species or planet is discovered, a member of the E.C. is sent to make first contact.

Frequently, first contacts end in death, because there are tons of ways to piss off an alien you just met.

The people who are in charge have realized that when a well-liked /good looking person dies it has a lasting impression on those around him/her. Morale goes down; people make mistakes, possibly fatal mistakes. Therefore, members of the Explorer Corps are usually deformed in some manner, or are loners or “broken” mentally.

Even though the technology exists to fix deformities and deficiencies, the higher ups see to it that they remain that way. It’s easier on morale to lose someone no one knew or even liked.

Festina Ramos has a port-wine birthmark covering the right half of her face. She is perfect in every other way: smart, sexy, and tough. But her birthmark makes her a perfect member of the EC, an Expendable. Life in the Explorer Corps is brutal, lonely, and above all short, but Festina has always come back alive.

Now, her mission is to escort an unstable Admiral to a planet that no one ever comes back from: Melaquin, “the Planet of No Return.” Countless other Explorers have tried, and have simply disappeared. No one knows why. Will this be Festina’s last mission? Read Expendable and find out!

Gardner’s Official Website

You can still find this book on Amazon.com, or ebay.

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